Better data monitoringThe report also found that with a few exceptions the World Bank’s projects that were reviewed did not include air pollution control as a primary objective. As a result, these projects... Show More + missed the opportunity to collect critical data, and establish baselines that would help measure the success of air pollution reduction interventions that they supported. Many developing countries lack the infrastructure and standardized methods to collect and interpret data that might inform better decision-making and help set national air quality standards. Better data and systematic monitoring are necessary if countries hope to respond to pollution. Sound analytical data and monitoring of changes over time were some of the critical factors of success in Santiago, Chile, for example, where authorities implemented cleaner transport solutions that were successful in lowering air pollution.World Bank projects in Chile, Mongolia and Peru demonstrate the importance Show Less -

Through a World Bank-funded program, citizens can participate in improving the quality of public services, including health, education, rural roads, agriculture and water and sanitation. The Social Accountability... Show More + (SA) component of the Promoting Basic Services Program Phase II (PBSII), a multi-donor initiative launched in 2006, helped establish a system for citizen participation by entrenching transparency and accountability at local and community levels. This also helps citizens hold policymakers and service providers accountable for their performance.“Prior to the introduction of Social Accountability in this wereda I did not even know what it meant,” said Firehiwot Mamo, a resident of Wereda 11, one of 232 weredas where the SA program has been implemented. “Once I became aware of Social Accountability, I quickly realized that I can use it to voice my needs and concerns and I became a member of social accountability committee and started encouraging others like me to get involved.”Fre Show Less -

The operation generated tremendous interest among Guinean civil servants, who subsequently flocked to enrollment centers following the announcement. Tasked with conducting the operation for the company... Show More + Inovatec-Gemalto, Paul Assamoi, an Ivorian, recalls the early days of the roll-out: “Initially, all the civil servants wanted to complete the identification process at the same time. There were so many bottlenecks that we had to organize things differently. We decided, with approval from the Ministry of Public Service, to first establish the administrative register for civil servants prior to validation by the administrative inspectors, and then ask the parties involved to begin the enrollment process.” As the process began to make some headway and produce results, government authorities decided to launch an aggressive communication campaign that publicized the names and faces of those accused of fraud. “We needed to show the Guinean people that we are committed to seeing a transpar Show Less -

The minister shared with her peers the challenges that Senegal faced throughout the management chain that included isolation, medical treatment, monitoring, economic/psychological support of 74 people... Show More + who were in contact with the patient, communication, addressing stigma, and material and financial resources. She also highlighted the need for coordination on a national and international level to harmonize interventions from government, civil society, the private sector, and technical and financial partners.One aspect that Minister Seck hopes the entire region will work together on is the search for a vaccine. An infectious disease specialist herself, Awa Marie Coll Seck noted that this recent and most deadly outbreak has made the entire region vulnerable and thus has accelerated the need to develop widespread preventive measures. Senegal is taking the first step towards this goal by hosting a two-day conference that will bring together researchers, health officials, and infectious dise Show Less -

Through a World Bank-funded program, citizens can participate in improving the quality of public services, including health, education, rural roads, agriculture and water and sanitation. The Social Accountability... Show More + (SA) component of the Promoting Basic Services Program Phase II (PBSII), a multi-donor initiative launched in 2006, helped establish a system for citizen participation by entrenching transparency and accountability at local and community levels. This also helps citizens hold policymakers and service providers accountable for their performance.“Prior to the introduction of Social Accountability in this wereda I did not even know what it meant,” said Firehiwot Mamo, a resident of Wereda 11, one of 232 weredas where the SA program has been implemented. “Once I became aware of Social Accountability, I quickly realized that I can use it to voice my needs and concerns and I became a member of social accountability committee and started encouraging others like me to get involved.”Fre Show Less -

Work and living conditions worsen TB in minesThe reason mineworkers in Southern Africa are particularly vulnerable to TB is their exposure to multiple risk factors as a result of their jobs, their living... Show More + conditions, and their migrant lifestyles. Prolonged exposure to silica dust in often poorly ventilated deep mine shafts can cause silicosis, which increases the risk of pulmonary tuberculosis. Crowded dormitory-style living conditions and poor housing in informal settlements increase the risk of contracting the airborne disease. High rates of HIV also increase the likelihood of TB infection. And regular movements across borders provide a route for transmission of infections to families and communities in the workers’ home countries.Furthermore, treating TB among mineworkers is particularly difficult due to their regular migration as treatment must be taken continuously and uninterrupted to avoid developing multi-drug resistant TB. In addition, health systems in the affec Show Less -

According to Juergen Voegele, Senior Director, Agriculture Global Practice, “We’re tackling the food insecurity challenge by implementing integrated solutions that cut across sectors. It’s not just a matter... Show More + of sustainable resource management, more efficient storage or even producing more food. It encompasses all of the above—and more.”The Bank is helping countries sustainably manage landscapes such as farms, forests, watersheds and coastal fisheries so that they are more productive. Community management of fisheries has helped restore fish stocks in Senegal, where according to Issa Sagne, President of the Local Committee of Fishers of Ngaparou, “Now, the fish are really abundant.” Climate-Smart Agriculture, which aims to produce more food on less land, improve climate resilience and reduce negative environmental impact, has tripled maize yields in Zambia and improved the incomes of farmers in Costa Rica. The Bank is also empowering the Show Less -

The Bank Group has transferred $105 million in emergency funding to Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone to fight Ebola — more money to date than any other international organization,... Show More + the president said. Overall, the Bank Group has committed $400 million to support treatment and containment.The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said that in a worst-case scenario, 1.4 million people could become infected with Ebola.“We must do all we can to prevent thousands more needless deaths and an economic catastrophe. … Our ability to boost shared prosperity in West Africa — and potentially the entire African continent — may be quickly disappearing,” Kim said. “Unless we stop the infection’s spread now, there will be little prosperity to share, to say nothing of the number of people who will be unable to share in what remains.”Boosting shared prosperity and tackling inequality requires two key steps on the World Bank Group’s part, said Kim. The Show Less -

Improving life for farmers and fishermenThe MDTF-N, a $585 million fund from the government of Sudan and 10 international donors, worked in several sectors to reduce poverty and build institutional capacity... Show More + to provide Sudan’s 37 million citizens with better services.The Fund supported the completion of the fifth national population census which provided important data for policy making, strengthening of public financial management, training of thousands of government officials and rural development programs that are helping to diversify the economy. Community–based infrastructure, services and employment initiatives are building skills and assets at the local level, benefitting 780,000 people—more than double the initial target.The MDTF-N livestock project, for instance, improved the lives of more than 137,325 people by creating six new markets, investing in veterinary care and demarcating pastoral routes for herders to avoid land use conflicts.“Now we have a large, strong herd of Show Less -

Integrated development solutions for the SahelIn November 2013, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim traveled to the Sahel with other leaders, pledging US$1.5 billion... Show More + in assistance to the region. Phase II of Senegal River Basin project is the first financing under this initiative.“We are redoubling our efforts both in the Sahel and elsewhere in Sub-Saharan Africa to provide integrated solutions across sectors and countries,” said Colin Bruce, World Bank Director for Regional Integration in Africa. “This approach is helping to protect vulnerable people in the Senegal River Basin area from malaria and neglected tropical diseases while simultaneously improving their livelihoods.” Show Less -

In the last nine months over 90,000 children have been vaccinated and 9,500 deliveries have taken place in the 283 centers supported by the project.The ongoing conflict between government and opposing... Show More + forces has made delivery of health care services a major challenge.“The conflict in key areas, resulting in the death of thousands and displacement of hundreds of thousands, placed significant strain on health resources and made operations nearly impossible,” says Dr. Mounir Lado, head of Interchurch Medical Association (IMA), a non-profit organization contracted by the Ministry of Health to coordinate and deliver services.IMA continues to operate despite the looting and vandalizing of its offices in Malakal, the scene of recent confrontations between government and rebel forces.In an effort to continue supporting essential health services in South Sudan at this critical time, the World Bank is providing an additional $35 million in March 2014.“We have learned how to adapt to challenges a Show Less -

WASHINGTON, September 9, 2013 -- In the last two decades, the global health landscape has undergone rapid transformation. People around the world are living longer than ever before, and the population... Show More + is getting older. The number of people in the world is growing. Many countries have made remarkable progress in preventing child deaths. As a result, disease burden is increasingly defined by disability instead of premature mortality. The leading causes of death and disability have changed from communicable diseases in children to non-communicable diseases in adults. Eating too much has overtaken hunger as a leading risk factor for illness. While there are clear trends at the global level, there is substantial variation across regions and countries.Nowhere is this contrast more striking than in Sub-Saharan Africa, where communicable, maternal, nutritional, and newborn diseases continue to dominate. Dramatic progress has been made in reducing the loss of life from many types of communicabl Show Less -

WASHINGTON, August 5, 2013 - Many developing countries import pesticides to increase agricultural production and control vector-borne diseases such as malaria. Over time, unused pesticides become obsolete... Show More + and unsafe for use. Today, across Sub-Saharan Africa, more than 50,000 tons of obsolete pesticides litter the landscape. Exposure to these pollutants can cause cancer, allergies, reproductive disorders, and damages to the nervous and immune systems.In 2005, the Global Environment Facility (GEF) committed US$25 million to clean up stocks in Ethiopia, Mali, Tanzania, Tunisia, and South Africa. As of today, 3,310 tons have been removed from 897 sites under the Africa Stockpiles Programme (ASP).The slow poisoning of a population“In Ethiopia, stockpiles of obsolete pesticides are a severe problem in urban areas,” says Asferachew Abate, World Bank ASP project leader for Ethiopia. “One of the storage facilities is next to the Tesfa Secondary School in Addis Ababa, causing disastrous effects Show Less -

JUBA, July 9, 2013 -- While the status of women in Sub-Saharan Africa is improving, women in the world’s newest country are still recovering from decades of conflict. With more than 85% of births still... Show More + occurring in the home and only three percent of mothers receive effective antenatal care, the majority of South Sudanese women have a greater chance of dying in childbirth than finishing school. More than 82% of women have no formal schooling and only five percent have finished primary school.As the nation celebrates its third Independence Day, efforts to reduce the country’s maternal mortality rate are slow; one in seven women in South Sudan die during pregnancy or childbirth. Yet despite statistics, South Sudanese women have a spirit and resilience born of providing and caring for their families during the difficult war years, and the government is poised to help women succeed. “We must assist women to improve their lives and lift themselves out of poverty,” said Agnes Kwaje Lasuba, Mi Show Less -

Maman, Talkook Locality, Kassala State, July 8, 2013 – Maman Village in East Sudan will never again be known as a “foolish” village.Once famous in the region for not having formal education for its children,... Show More + the village now has a new basic school with two classrooms for education through the eighth grade. The school and teacher dorms are solar powered, and there is a water supply to quench the thirst of children who walk long distances to the school.“Before this school was built, our sons didn’t have much to do,” said Mohammed Ali, an elder in the Maman community. “Today our sons are learning new things.”The boys of Maman, from the Talkook locality comprised of about 20 communities, are not the only ones going to school. Girls in nearby Talkook Village are also allowed to attend school, which is a change for the religiously conservative community.“Our communities are against girl’s education, but within such a conservative community we have managed to have our daughters enrolled,” said Show Less -

Hamashkorieb, Kassala State, June 10, 2013 – Just a few years ago, the route through the desert to Hamashkorieb was so dangerous, only the brave would attempt the two-day trek to reach the historic religious... Show More + community. The sick would die long before reaching the health clinic in the nearest town, and during the five-month rainy season, no one could get in or out.But now that the new Gadamai-Hamashkorieb road has been built, the community is no longer isolated at the Sudan-Eritrea border. Travel time has been reduced from days to hours, and once expensive travel costs have been cut in half.“The lorry driver would refuse to go all the way to drop us, but now the road makes transport possible for us,” said Ali Talab, who used to pay as much as 20 Sudanese pounds for transportation to and from Hamashkorieb. “We are so proud that we are one of the few villages which have roads and access when so many others don’t.”The development of Gadamai-Hamashkorieb road is part of the National Em Show Less -

The renewed focus on toilets is integrated with a broader push for sanitation worldwide, and the UN and World Bank are partnering to bring attention to this issue.“If we all do our part, we can achieve... Show More + substantial results," said Eliasson, regarding a drive to scale sanitation approaches that work and end open defecation. “Investing in sanitation is a win-win proposition. [Investing in sanitation] will mean millions of people can live productive lives, and lives with dignity. It will mean the Millennium Development Goals can be achieved, and it will mean healthy societies can be built. There are only winners if we all mobilize.” The panelists recognized the need to engage the private sector. “We need to aspire to bring in the private sector, to find the business models that will sustain sanitation at scale,” Kyte said. From his perspective at American Standard, McHale described the recent experience his company had in Bangladesh, partnering with the Gates Found Show Less -

KAMPALA, April 22, 2013 -- Silvo Abiria works as a Sr. Nursing Officer at Kawolo Hospital, about an hour’s drive away from Uganda’s capital, Kampala. Two years into her current assignment, she was promoted... Show More + to be the head of all nurses. It was a great promotion, but it was tough for Abiria; she was a good nurse but had no management experience.“This was a big assignment since I had to do my routine nursing roles and at the same time draw up plans, proposals and schedules for all the nurses,” Abiria said. Many health professionals found themselves in the same dilemma as Abiria. Recognizing this need, Uganda’s Ministry of Health sought to train medical workers to become better hospital managers. Through the Bank-supported Uganda Health Systems Strengthening Project (UHSSP) several scholarships are offered to enhance the capacity of hospital managers.Abiria is one of the 349 health facility managers and administrators who were sponsored through the program to undertake Master’s degre Show Less -

Climate change impacts are often experienced as water-related events, such as flooding, drought, or extreme storms. Extreme weather events associated with a changing climate carry both economic and human... Show More + costs. Economic losses from recent floods in Thailand, Pakistan, and Australia were devastating: in Thailand alone, losses due to flooding in 2011 resulted in losses of approximately $45 billion, or about 13 percent of GDP.When considering the human costs of climate change, it will be those least able to adapt – the poor and most vulnerable – that will be hit the hardest.“Looking forward, it is clear that water management practices of the past are no longer adequate. Transformations in behavior, institutions, and policies will be at the center of governments', companies', and our attention,” said Rachel Kyte, the World Bank’s vice president for sustainable development.Poor sanitation conditions exacerbated by extreme weather eventsRoughly 2.5 billion people lack access to sanitation an Show Less -

Al Awamra Village, North Kordofan State, March 18, 2013 – In the agro-pastoral community of Al Awamra, raising healthy animals is key to basic survival. So when the Improving Livestock Production... Show More + and Marketing Project began, the community was happy to have support for their livelihood in animal vaccinations, improved markets and a new, nearby water yard where they could take the animals to drink without fear of waterborne disease setting in.But what they didn’t expect was the water point to turn into a thriving business. Not only does the water yard supply Al Awamra Village with water for themselves and their animals, it also provides a revenue stream. People from surrounding communities pay one Sudanese pound for a barrel of sparkling well water, and the money goes to the village.“The water project was an agreement with the state,” said Juma Mohamed, a parent and member of the community’s development committee. “Sixty percent of the income from the water yard goes to the communi Show Less -